Gear driven socket wrench



7 0611.21, 1947. s; s wA r 2,429,569

GEAR DRIVEN SOCKET WRENCH Filed Nov. 6, 1943 3 I H I INVENTOR 3 EDWIN s. STEWART I ATTORN EY Patented Oct. 21, 1947 UNI T ED STAT ES PATENT O FF [CE GEAR DRIVEN SOCKET WRENCH.

Edwin S. Stewart,- Spokane; Wash.

Application-November 6, 1943, Serial No. 509,224:

2Ola'ims. 1

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a gear driven socket wrench for turning bolts and nuts, andis particularly directed to providing a ratchet wrench in which the ratchet handle can be operatedabout an axis which is at right angles to the axis. of the bolt and also offset towards the workman, so as to provide more freedom ofimovement in turningv nuts and bolts which are so located asto limit the movement of the usual ratchet handle commonly used with the interchangeable socket wrenches which are in widespread generalfuse.

The invention interposes a pair of spiral gears between the usual ratchet handle and its wrench socket, and is so constructedthat vertical'bolts or theirnuts. can be turned by operating the ratchet handle. in a vertical plane instead of in a horizontal plane as is usually required.

With the present invention the ratchet handle always operates in a plane parallel to the axi'sof the bolt, and in the case of horizontal bolts, the plane of operation may be vertical, or horizontal, or inany inclined plane parallel to the horizontal axis of the bolt, thus enabling. the workman to operate the wrench in whatever. plane thataffords the greatest convenience for efiiciency and speed. In like manner with vertical bolts, the vertical plane of operation can be oriented to whatever position affords the greatest facility for working.

In any instance with the present invention, the ratchet handle operates in a plane at a convenient distance awa from the axis of the bolt, and affords greater freedom of. movement when the bolt is situated in inside corners or other inconvenient locations which would otherwise. limit themovement of the usual ratchet handle.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the natureand principle of the invention. and show. the bestform that Ihave thus far. devised for carrying. the invention into actual practice.

Fig. 1 is aplan view of the invention, partly. in section, and. including the ratchet handleand an adapter socket therefor.

Fig. 2is a vertical longitudinal section through the center of the invention, a partbeing removed.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionthrough the center.

ofthe invention, parts being removed.

As shown in the drawing, the invention provides a gear block C which has a horizontal bore H and a vertical bore V, which inter-communicate with each other. Disposed in the horizontal bore H is a spiral gear D rigid upon the shaft 2 which has one end journaled in the gear block C and its opposite end 3 is stepped down and journaled in a bushing 4 which is fitted into the horizontal bore. H and secured in any suitable manner, as for instance by set screws such as R,

one above andlone below. The outer end ofthis shaft issquared as indicated at If. Disposed in the vertical boreV, is a spiral gear 7 which meshes withv the. aforesaid. gear D. This gear 1 is rigid uponashaft having. reduced portions 8 and 9' and squaredlends lllnandi If. These reduced portions- 8' and 97 are mounted in the. flanged. bushings 6.

and. 5. which are fitted into opposite ends of 'the verticallbore V and heldin place in. any practical manner, as for. instance, these bushings. may be fixed to. the shaft by a pin or set screw as illustratedat Rin whichcase the bushings turn with theshaftandaiford an enlargedbearing surface within the. vertical. bore. V. If desiredv the pin 1! may. be. omitted and the. bushings 5? and. 6

thumb/screw lSiis threadedlint'o the opposite end' of. the tube 2.8, So. as to provide a stop for the stem 2T and also to urge the same forward as required.-

If. desired this stem 2 I. may be provided with the well known friction catch consisting of a spring,

urged. pin. or ball.

A-hollow handle E'is. threaded onto the rod I6,

andthis handlev has an enlarged head F which.

bearsagainstthe collar I? so as to hold thecollar in any required position of rotation. upon. the boss IS. The outer end of the handle E has a bore 23' which. corresponds to the stem 2| so that when this stem is removed it. can conveniently be inserted into thebore 23' readily accessible for the. next instance of use.

The forward endof' this handle E is provided.

with. a. recess K'which corresponds with the boss l5 and when the collar IT is removed, the handle can be screwed up untilits head F seats against the gear block C, so that the tool can be used either with or without the brace device collectively indicated at B and which is removed in Fig. 3.

The gear D is used to drive the gear 1, and in Fig. 1 there is shown at W, the well known ratchet handle having a square stud M which may be connected to the squared end l2 by means of the illustrated adapter U which has squared openings in each of its ends. Thus the ratchet handle W can be used to turn the drive gear D in either direction and thereby rotate the gear 1 accordingly. As shown in Fig. 2, a wrench socket such as S can be applied to either of the squared ends I or H and used to turn a bolt or nut as the case may be. The purpose of providing the two squared ends I0 and H is so that the tool can be used either above or below a surface without turning the tool upside down, which would bring the ratchet handle into left hand position. If the workman be left handed, then he can position the tool so that the ratchet handle is on the left side, and then the tool can be used either above or below a surface without turning it over so as to make it right handed.

Where there is a series of bolts near a wall, the bracedevice B is used to bear against the wall and hold the tool in fixed position while turning the bolts or their nuts, the thumb screw I9 being employed to move the stem 2| forward so that the facing X contacts the wall; whereupon the tool can be used upon the whole series of bolts, with added convenience to the workman. This brace device can be positioned on either side of the tool by rotating the collar I! the required amount and then holding it in position by screwing the handle E up tight. In any instance where the brace device is not used, it may be turned to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the stem 2| can be inserted into the bore 23; or else the brace device can be entirely removed as illustrated in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the invention provides a gear driven socket wrench which can be operated by the conventional ratchet handle, and that any selected wrench socket can be used upon either of the square studs [0 or II, and that the ratchet handle W is situated a convenient distance away from the work so as to provide freedom of movement. This enables the workman to operate the ratchet handle with far greater speed and also with longer strokes, thus affording efliciency and convenience. Also the tool can be operated in situations where there is not room enough for operating the usual ratchet wrench.

The invention may be made with any suitable gear ratio. The illustrated spiral gear D is essentially a multiple start worm, and it will be understood that the spiral gear 1 may be supplanted by a worm gear, if desired.

As here shown the ratchet handle W is provided with the conventional stud M which fits wrench sockets such as S; for which reason the adapter U is employed when this form of ratchet handle is used with the gear drive of the present invention; however, the end of the shaft 3 may be provided with a square recess so as to engage the stud M directly. Some ratchet handles are made with an aperture instead of a stud, in which case the adapter U need not be used.

Any of the squared ends I0, H, l2 or M may be provided with a friction catch such as the well known spring urged ball, and therefore this conventional expedient is not shown, as it is merely an optional convenience.

Where the brace device B is not desired, the

4 handle E may be made rigid with the gear block C in any suitable manner.

In the present disclosure, I claim as my invention:

1. A gear driven socket wrench comprising a gear block having a horizontal bore and a vertical bore inter-communicating therewith, a spiral gear upon a shaft rotatably mounted for operation in said vertical bore, a wrench socket upon the shaft of said gear, a spiral drive gear upon a shaft rotatably mounted for operation in said horizontal bore and meshing with the first said gear, a ratchet handle for turning the shaft of said drive gear, a threaded rod rigid with said gear block and disposed with its axis on a line transversely intersecting both of said gears at right angles to the axis of each of them and having an enlarged boss adjacent said gear block, a collar rotatably mounted on said boss, an arm extending radially from said collar, a slidably mounted stem carried by said arm and disposed in spaced relation along the side of said gear block and in offset parallel relation to the axis line of said threaded rod, and a handle threaded upon said rod and holding said collar against said gear block, whereby said collar can be held at a set position of rotation and quickly released by a fractional turn of said handle relative to said threaded rod.

2. A gear driven socket wrench comprising a handle, a gear housing on the forward end of said handle, a pair of spiral gears journaled in said housing and in mesh with each other, the axis of said handle being disposed on a line transversely intersecting both of said gears at right angles to the axis of each of them, a Wrench socket turned by one of said gears, a ratchet handle for turning the other said gear, a collar rotatable around the axis of the first said handle, an arm extending radially from said collar, a tube rigid with said arm and extending forwardly therefrom in spaced relation along the side of said housing and in offset parallel relation to the axis line of said handle, a stem slidably mounted in said tube, and a screw threaded axially into said tube for urging said stem forwardly.

EDWIN S. STEWART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 644,089 McCaulon Feb. 27, 1900 685,544 Weimar Oct. 29, 1901 877,571 Larson Jan. 28, 1908 1,295,799 Sanborn Feb. 25, 1919 1,299,591 Malchow Apr. 8, 1919 1,333,532 Berk Mar. 9, 1920 1,489,696 Campbell Apr. 8, 1924 2,139,650 Anderson et al Dec. 13, 1938 1,628,467 Mandl May 10, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 840,340 France Jan. 16, 1939 264,033 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1926 

